Drought leads to mass slaughter of cattle

Drought leads to the mass slaughter of livestock

The slaughterhouse Fatland says they now slaughter twice as many cattle as normal in July. This as a result of the drought in southern Norway.

The General Manager of Fatland Jæren, Terje Wester, informs about the immense influx from farmers who notifies that they have livestock ready for slaughter.

– We are slaughtering twice as much as we do in a regular week in July, he explains to Stavanger Aftenblad.

The worst drought of over 70 years has hit much of Norway’s agriculture this summer. Crops are destroyed, and farmers across large parts of the country are having trouble obtaining adequate feed for the animals.

Twice as many

– At this time last year, we slaughtered around 160 cattle. Next week it will be 350. We believe that it will increase throughout the summer and autumn, but that depends solely on the weather. If the drought continues throughout the autumn, when the lambs are to be slaughtered, it can quickly become more serious and affect our capacity.

Normally, the slaughterhouses receive too little cattle in the summer months, and Norway has therefore imported meat from abroad. In June 2017, 1,546 metric ton of meat were imported. This year that was down to 518 ton. In July, Norwegian cattle will by and large probably replace the need for imports, according to Wester.

On Monday, Minister of Agriculture, Jon Georg Dale (Progress Party), meets the farmers’ organizations to discuss the situation surrounding the drought and crop deficit. During the meeting, the organizations will demand a financial package and adaptations to the regulations due to the crisis.

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